St. Simon's Island

We at first were directed to a small (and I mean SMALL) condominium that had it's bedroom window covered in plastic due to construction going on that was NOT supposed to be going on...they then gave us this 3br 3bath, beautiful oceanfront condominium to stay in instead. As you can see, it's right on the ocean and each day, except for today, we've walked in the morning and in the late afternoon...plus taken the requisite "vacation" naps while reading...;-)!

 

This morning at 5:58AM...8.3 degrees outside and only 61 in the house (didn't turn the heat up much last night...ooppss!!). At around 7AM it had dropped to 7.9 degrees, where it stayed until it began to recover around 8AM or so with the Sun peeking up over the cloud bank to our Southeast. It is cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

A few years ago we had a late Winter storm and we lost a lot of our Azaleas. They should, actually, stand through the Winter and come back well in the Spring. The problem back a few years was that they had started to bloom when the cold snap hit in April. This year they have bloomed for late Fall (they bloom Spring, Summer and Fall...called an Encore Azalea they are beautiful and display their beauty three times a year) and I think that despite the snow covering they recieve they'll bloom as expected in Spring...at least I hope so!

 

You'll notice no dog pawprints...Petey most definitively dislikes snow. When I carry him out to tend to a call of nature, he stands with one front paw in the air, looks around at the snow, literally hops like a rabbit to shallower depths, does what he needs to do and hightails it back to the porch. I went out this AM with him and after I decided to feed the birds and leave some critter food for the squirrels. The Petester wanted nothing of that, so he stood by the door so BD could see him shivering on the porch so she would let him in...he doesn't like cold, and doesn't care for snow despite the beauty of it's presence.

 

We are susceptible to a little snow a time or two each year. But usually it falls, looks pretty in doing so, then melts in a matter of hours as the temps rarely allow the ground to get cold enough to support the snow to accumulate. This year, however, has seen the temperatures dip into the teens and stay there for more than a week, which doesn't happen very often. We get a cold snap for a few days, then back to the average temps in the low 50s. Not this past week or two...staying in the low 30s and high 20s, lows at night in to the teens, and single digits last night. We're supposed to be above our average high of 51 by mid week (I sense a ride coming on...), but then another system is headed out way...just in time for our yearly trip to the coast next Sunday, the 17th where it's supposed to be in the 40s during the day and 20s at night...

 

This was the view out our bedroom French Doors to the porch yesterday, Friday AM. We had about a half inch, but it was the temperatures that really caught our attention. The snow that fell Thursday night/Friday morning of course packed into ice, and since out driveway is pretty steep we didn't venture out until late Friday afternoon. This morning, Saturday, the snow is still with us and the large, level "pad" at the top of the driveway, leading into the garage, is again packed snow/ice...we'll be homebound for several hours today as well...Petey's not liking that.

Sunrise January 4th, 2010

 

The sunrise this AM was almost spiritual...

...it was God painting the day to come with fire and color...